In the

human mouth In human anatomy, the mouth is the first portion of the alimentary canal that receives Human food, food and produces saliva. The oral mucosa is the mucous membrane epithelium lining the inside of the mouth. In addition to its primary role as th ...

, the incisive foramen (also known as: "''anterior palatine foramen''", or "''nasopalatine foramen''") is the opening of the incisive canals on the

hard palate The hard palate is a thin horizontal bony plate made up of two bones of the facial skeleton, located in the roof of the mouth. The bones are the palatine process of the maxilla and the horizontal plate of palatine bone. The hard palate spans ...

immediately behind the incisor teeth. It gives passage to blood vessels and nerves. The incisive foramen is situated within the incisive fossa of the

maxilla In vertebrates, the maxilla (: maxillae ) is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The two maxil ...

. The incisive foramen is used as an anatomical landmark for defining the severity of cleft lip and cleft palate. The incisive foramen exists in a variety of species.

Structure

The incisive foramen is a funnel-shaped opening in the bone of the oral

representing the inferior termination of the incisive canal. An oral prominence - the incisive papilla - overlies the incisive fossa. The incisive foramen is situated immediately behind the incisor teeth, and in between the two

premaxilla The premaxilla (or praemaxilla) is one of a pair of small cranial bones at the very tip of the upper jaw of many animals, usually, but not always, bearing teeth. In humans, they are fused with the maxilla. The "premaxilla" of therian mammals h ...

The incisive foramen allows for blood vessels and nerves to pass. These include: * the pterygopalatine nerves to the hard palate. * the nasopalatine nerves from the floor of the

nasal cavity The nasal cavity is a large, air-filled space above and behind the nose in the middle of the face. The nasal septum divides the cavity into two cavities, also known as fossae. Each cavity is the continuation of one of the two nostrils. The nas ...

. *the sopalatine branches of the infratrochlear nerve, a branch of the ophthalmic nerve (V1), itself a branch of the

trigeminal nerve In neuroanatomy, the trigeminal nerve (literal translation, lit. ''triplet'' nerve), also known as the fifth cranial nerve, cranial nerve V, or simply CN V, is a cranial nerve responsible for Sense, sensation in the face and motor functions ...

. * the sphenopalatine artery supplying the

mucous membrane A mucous membrane or mucosa is a membrane that lines various cavities in the body of an organism and covers the surface of internal organs. It consists of one or more layers of epithelial cells overlying a layer of loose connective tissue. It ...

covering the hard palate of the

mouth A mouth also referred to as the oral is the body orifice through which many animals ingest food and animal communication#Auditory, vocalize. The body cavity immediately behind the mouth opening, known as the oral cavity (or in Latin), is also t ...

. * the sphenopalatine vein draining the mucous membrane covering the hard palate of the mouth.

Clinical significance

As many nerves exit the incisive canal at the incisive foramen, it may be used for injection of

local anaesthetic A local anesthetic (LA) is a medication that causes absence of all sense, sensation (including pain) in a specific body part without loss of consciousness, providing local anesthesia, as opposed to a general anesthetic, which eliminates all sen ...

. When plain radiographs are taken of the

, the incisive foramen may be mistaken for a periapical lesion. The incisive foramen can be used as a landmark when describing cleft lip and cleft palate, which can either extend in front of (primary) or behind (secondary) the foramen. It is also important as a surgical landmark to avoid damaging its nerves and vascular structures.

History

The incisive foramen is also known as the anterior palatine foramen, the nasopalatine foramen, and the incisive fossa.

Other animals

In many other species, the incisive foramina allow for passage of ducts to the vomeronasal organ. It can be found in cats, and

alligator An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus ''Alligator'' of the Family (biology), family Alligatoridae in the Order (biology), order Crocodilia. The two Extant taxon, extant species are the American alligator (''A. mis ...

Additional images

File:Gray187.png, Inferior surface of base of skull File:Incisive fossa.jpg, Incisive fossa

References

External links

* {{Authority control Foramina of the skull Skull Human head and neck Otorhinolaryngology